General Post

1920
Silent
66m

Wartime heroism reveals the shabbiness of antisemitic prejudice, when a small-town tailor becomes a local hero

Antisemitism is the unspoken theme of this romantic drama. When the daughter of an English town’s first family falls in love with the local tailor, her parents are horrified. But when he distinguishes himself in WWI, rising to the rank of general and earning a Victoria Cross, their snobbery is reversed. This engaging film depicts many social changes in Edwardian and wartime Britain, including the suffragette movement and the Territorial Army, as well as the softening of prejudice.

Director Thomas Bentley had a long career, making 68 films between 1912 and 1941 (including arguably Britain's first true feature film, Oliver Twist). While the character of tailor-turned-war-hero Edward Smith is purposely spotless, his brother Albert, a tailor working in London, is more of an antisemitic Jewish caricature. London was home to a large, and growing, Jewish community in the early 20th century, and a substantial number worked in tailoring.

Jewish Britain

Jewish life on screen: a century of insights and hidden histories

This collection uncovers insights, injustices and hidden histories across a century of Jewish life on British screens. It brings together documentary and first-person accounts of Jewish life in the UK, alongside historical dramas and artists’ work exploring the 20th century Jewish experience. The earliest surviving depictions of Jewish characters in British cinema offer a troubling insight into antisemitic representation, yet prejudice was later tackled head-on, with newsreels documenting the anti-fascist movement of the 1930s.

Drop in on joyous family weddings and community gatherings, and see the ways in which UK Jewry supported Jews young and old, and those fleeing persecution, in a selection of fascinating films from the 1900s to the 1980s.

This collection is generously supported by the Neil Kreitman Foundation, Shoresh Charitable Trust, John S Cohen Foundation, and Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation.